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Speaking of this Week — August 27, 2004
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
By Christine F. Della Monaca, Managing Editor, SMT
Speaking of this Week summarizes and analyzes events in the electronics assembly industry every Friday.
As summer prepares to join with fall, it's the week of alliances. Trade show news follows close behind, and there are also personnel and progress news, financial announcements, and a look at a consumer electronics end market growing in importance.
- Franklin, Mass.-based Speedline Technologies Inc. has expanded its influence in the important Southeast Asia market, forming alliances with four companies in Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. San Francisco-based Fabrinet signed a three-year volume supply agreement with Jarfalla, Sweden-based Northlight Optronics to provide module packaging and manufacture of optical subassemblies for Northlight's longwave optical transmitters and receivers. In a strategic alliance, Methuen, Mass.-based Delphi Corp. will provide Troy, Mich.-based Delphi Connection Systems with flexible and rigid flexible circuits for use with Delphi connectors and related components at the company's North American final assembly operations. Finally, Phoenix-based Duraswitch executed a non-exclusive license agreement with Pittsburgh-based Dawar Technologies Inc. for creation of a custom Duraswitch rotary switch at a medical device OEM.
- In event news, Utica, N.Y.-based Indium Corp. of America recently held an Annual Global Technical Summit to provide education to the company's worldwide technical support team. In the meantime, small business owners, take note: SBIR/STTR — Where Innovation Focuses Technology (WIFT V) will be held throughout the Midwest in mid-September. The federal outreach effort brings together program managers from more than 10 federal agencies to discuss research topic areas and drum up support and interest for the SBIR and STTR programs for companies with less than 500 employees. Willow Grove, Pa.-based Tyco Electronics will be showing several new products at Assembly Technology Expo late next month in Chicago, and the Minneapolis-based SMTA's Ohio Valley Chapter will host a lead-free event in Worthington, Ohio, presented by Dan Baldwin, Ph.D. of Engent Inc. Finally, looking ahead to next year, electronicAmericas 2005, to be held in São Paulo, Brazil in late April, should see an exhibition area enlarged by 20 percent over the 2003 event.
- Personnel news: Horsham, Pa.-based Dynatech Technology Inc. has a new technical services manager in Larry Groves; FEINFOCUS appointed Frank Gitmans, Ph.D. as managing director of the company's Garbsen, Germany headquarters; South Portland, Maine-based Fairchild Semiconductor promoted Ole-Petter Brusdal to VP of sales and marketing for Europe; and Tom Insprucker was named VP of marketing for the Palatine, Ill.-based Schneider Electric North American Operating Division. Finally, Redmond, Wash.-based Three-Five Systems Inc. (TFS) named David A. Prunier as senior director and general manager of the company's NPI and medical manufacturing facility.
- In progress, GE Toshiba Silicones opened a new electronic materials technology center in Oyama-cho, Shizuoka, Japan, and Billerica, Mass.-based GSI Lumonics Inc. received an order for its WaferRepair memory repair systems from a Taiwan-based semiconductor DRAM manufacturer. And in similar news, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada-based Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATS) received US $15.5 million in orders to design and build automated manufacturing lines for a supplier of flat panel display materials.
- Financial news: Salt Lake City-based CirTran Corp. reported gross revenues of $1.9 million for its second quarter, reflecting a 361 increase year-over-year. And Milpitas, Calif.-based Solectron Corp. secured a three-year, $500 million revolving credit facility, due to expire in 2007.
- Finally, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based In-Stat/MDR sees smartphone shipments experiencing a 44 percent CAGR over the next five years. The market, however, does face some challenges, namely lack of 3G networks, size, battery life and security concerns.
This just in: According to this week's Quick Vote, an overwhelming 70 percent of you are concerned about the transition to lead-free, 19 percent are not, and 11 percent more of you are not sure.
Have some insight on the industry? See something you don't agree with? Think I'm right on? Send it all to me at christinef@pennwell.com.